Roller arrangement for printing presses



April 22, 1930. v w; J, STRAIN 1,755,278

I ROLLER ARRANGEMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed July 18, 1928 I]. I A'r'I'Y 5 5 I INVENTOR WILLIAM J.s1'RA| N.

Witt-Jim Patented Apr. 22, "1930 mares siii'ititiit air itti'it itr'on ienein,

Ac eageaawioaeen w apex ROLLER asaaamviam FOR emit'rme PRESSES 1 A imtion filed my 1s,

,The present invention relates ,toj fi-nl iing Inechanisin for print ng presses andbon'stitutes an improyement'in the agn te: sup

te evenly distribute the ink thereon bef porting the relatively longrollers that run in contact yiththe ink cylinder it is transferred tothe printin 'g fcy der Which carries, the plate. Tl 16 lllV 6l'l tI0n is also applicable to wetting m hani m, so it will be understood that what issaid herein in reterentetoin krollers is applicablef to.

plate Wetting rollersiised on lithograplnt "presses, r, i 7 Owing to their length these rollers ave certain'dgree of flexibility and' wheii their bearings are adjusted to press them into contact with the cylinder with which they eo-act their "flexibility allows them to bend sothat the pressure between the roller and thecylin- 7 Chi is less at a point midway of theirlengt than it is at the ends. .111; thecase of rollers that are supported below the eylinde'rs thje Weight of the roller is an-additional factor that causesfit to bendinsome cases so the roller does not even touch the niiddle part of thejylinder. Y- I v e r The es'pe'cial'object of the invention is to provide a means for supperting rollershaying. a relative degree of fiexibility in such manner that they will bear With-substantially equal pressure throughout their-length when eo=acting Wit-h relatiyely rigid eylinders.

r Another object of th' inyention is .to 'operj ably support theink rollers in such relation: to the ink cylinder as to aid in-produei-ng unig form distribution of the ink on the surface of the ink cylinder, r vVViththe foregoing and other objects in View; which will appear as the description proceeds; the invention resides: in the ar rangement. of parts 7 as hereinattjer; described and claimed, it being understood:thatgvarious changes in thep'recise embodiment and applie atioii of the invention Inertia diselosed maybe made within-thescope ofthe claims Without departing from the spirit of the in- VGHtiOIL' 7 Referring to the drawing; 7 I v Figure 1 is a plan View illustrating an'ink cylinder of a printing press With portions- 1923., Serial 110,293,507.

broken and showing an ink r'ollf er sup- NEW a es-set; satisfies TOR-l nea -e p'ertedund'ei the cylinder in accordance with V the invention.

. Figure 21s side'yiew of the c linderand v "Figure 3 is a dia rammatic end viewef the cylinderandroller arrangement; and Figure t is aside viewof a cylinder and a roller arranged intlie inaniir heretofore used. v I]. q v In the drawin 11' indieatesf ink cylinderwhich is usually made Yo-f eas; steel, While l2-indicates an inki'oll'e'r that consist of a inetallic cer'e over which a eateringof a suitable composition or rubber is molded.

Bearings not shown in the idraiyingfare provided for the cylinder,..an'd bearings of which is shoiiin at l3 fai ei proi id 'ec the roller. The. roller may bflfinbyedendise, is 'e mm niytermea yibratingit by means of any suitable [iiiechanijsifi. ,As"

herein eaten, a stated is" oscillated ty being suitably connected to some moving part of the pressorother scurce of power. The leyer 15 is secured tothe shaft and carries a 'roller 16 which operates between the flanges 17 and.

,18, of the; col-larl9attached to shaft at the rellerflfZ; "Thus fvthenthe shaft 14 oscillated, thesha ft' of the roller nioyes t ller asviewed in thedirectien of arrow 2 of Flgul 1.

tat

endwise in its'beariiiigs aniline body ofthe roller n oyed t p/1mm forth across the, cylinder, this being the method iaaa y eap ployed' to distribute the ink evenly-ova the t.

' he ink rollers-inust be remavgahom the i Figure 4 the cylinder i1" isfsilbw'n w nithe roller lasuppertecl below itiin'the ustal marines arranged to "keep their: I .:axes par-T 'HoWeVeflWhen-the bearings fen-thee roller are adjusted to produce the requisite pressure against the cylinder at the points 20 and 21, the roller is so distorted that it bears against the cylinder at the point 22 with but a very light pressure and in some cases there is no contact whatever at this point and over a considerable distance on both sides of it.

The arrangement whereby the roller is supported with relation to the cylinder, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 overcomes the objection to the use of a roller that has an appreciable de ree of flexibility.

s shown in Figure 1, the roller is supported with its axis in an-askew relation to the axis of the cylinder. The bearings for both ends of the roller are placed at the same distance from the axis of the cylinder, but

one bearing is displaced in relation to the other in a direction rotary to the axis of the cylinder. This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 3 wherein 23 indicates the axis of the cylinder, 24c the centre of one end of the roller and 25, the centre of the other end.

The angular relation of the rollers axis with respect to the axis of the cylinder, results in bending the roller and causing it to conform to the helical line of its contact with the cylinder. Obviously by varying this misalignment of the roller any desired degree of curvature may be obtained and a point founc that will cause the roller to bear against the cylinder with equal pressure throughout their line of contact. It is also obvious that this method of supporting rollers in an askew relation is applicable when both the roller and the cylinder have a small amount of flexibility for in such case the distortion will be divided, varying with their relative rigidity. V

This angular disposition of'the ink rollers relative to the ink cylinder also aids in dis tributing the ink to produce a uniform film on the surface of the ink cylinder. To this end the ink roller may be provided in pairs, and the rollers of each pair disposedat opposed angles to thereby cause the ink to move spirally along the surface of the cylinder from right to left and then left to right.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class described including, a rotatable cylinder, a roller rotatable about a yieldable axis, and helically' disposed relative to the cylinder, and arrangedso that the periphery of the roller engages the periphery of the cylinder. I I

2. A device of the class described including, a rotatable cylinder, a roller rotatable about a yieldable axis and helically disposed relative'to the cylinder, and arranged 'so-that the periphery of .theroller engages the periphery of the cylinder substantially throughout its length.

3. A device of the class described including,a rotatable cylinder and a cooperat ng roller helically disposed relative to thelcylinthe axis of the cylinder.

maintaining a degree of pressure therebetween, said bearings for the'roller being positioned substantially 'equi-d stant from the axis of the cylinder butout of parallelism therewith.

5. In an inking mechanism for a printing press, an ink cylinder and an ink roller one of which is' relatively rigid, and the other having a relative degree of flexibility, bearings rotatablysupportingthe cylinder, and bearings rotatably supporting the roller in contact with the cylinder and maintaining a degree of pressure therebetween, said bearings for the roller being positioned to support the roller with its axis in an askew relation to 6. In an inking mechanismfor a printing roller having a relative degree of flexibility,

bearings rotatably supporting the cylinder,

and bearings rotatably supporting the roller in contactwith the cylinder and maintaining a degree of pressure therebetween, said bearings for the roller being positioned to'produce a misalignment of the roller relative to the cylinder whereby the contact pressure produced between the roller and the cylinder near the center of their line of contact is substantially the same as the contact pressure produced at the ends.

7. A'device of the class described, includ-' ing a rotatable ink cylindeigan ink roller having an appreciable degree of flexibility, supported in running contact with the cylinder and in an askew relation thereto, and

means for moving the roller axially to distribute ink on the cylinder. 8. In an inking mechanism for a printing press, a relatively rigid ink cylinder rotatably supported in bearings, an ink roller having an appreciable degree of flexibility, bearings rotatably supporting the roller in contact with the cylinder and maintaining pressure therebetween, and means for vibrating the roller; said bearings for the roller being positioned to support it in an askew relation to the cylinder,-whereby it bears with a substantially equal degree ofpressure at all points throughout :its length.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

' WILLIAM JAMES STRAIN.

press, a relatively rigid ink cylinder, an nk 

